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2006 ELECTION | UNDERVOTE

Political operatives gather for recount

Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 3:23 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 5:58 a.m.

SARASOTA -- While the candidates themselves stayed clear of anything resembling a lectern, congressional staff members and national political operatives descended on Sarasota on Friday, digging in for a fight over contested results in the 13th Congressional District.

Staff from the U.S. House of Representatives committee that oversees election disputes inspected the site where the results in the race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings will be recounted.

That recount is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Monday and must be completed within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, national Democrat and Republican groups strengthened their presence, signaling the dispute over the 18,000 undervotes could move beyond a recount to a lawsuit.

The nonpartisan political watchdog group Common Cause of Florida called for a new election.

"Sarasota County voters deserve an explanation," said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause's Florida office. "The machines should be impounded, audited and tested to determine if voters were unable to cast a ballot and why. A 13 percent undercount is unacceptable, and this election should not be certified. Election officials should conduct a revote in this county."

But Buchanan and Republican Party leaders say the votes have been counted, and the results should stand.

"We don't know why people undervoted," said Jeff Sadosky, spokesman for the Florida Republican Party. "We do know how the votes showed up and that Congressman Buchanan won the election."

Buchanan's legal team will be led by Hayden Dempsey, a Tallahassee-based attorney who was lead counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Florida in 2004. Staff from the Republican National Congressional Committee are expected to arrive this weekend.

Jennings' support includes a political team from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"We're here for a reason," said Adrienne Elrod, spokeswoman for the DCCC. "We're making sure every single person who intended to vote for Christine Jennings has their vote counted."

Buchanan defeated Jennings by 373 votes, according to the latest unofficial election results from the Florida Division of Elections. The margin increased by five votes after Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties all made revisions to their vote totals from Tuesday.

The 13th District includes all of Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties, and part of Charlotte.

At issue remains the undervote in Sarasota County, the most populous of the district's five-county area. The undervote represents the difference between total voters in Tuesday's election and votes counted in the congressional race.

Democrats say problems with the electronic touch-screen ballot confused voters and could have negated thousands of votes.

More than 300 voters have so far contacted the Herald-Tribune by telephone or e-mail about their experience at the polls on Tuesday. About 150 voters have been interviewed by a team of reporters.

The majority of those contacted say they clearly remember voting for Christine Jennings. But once they reached the final review page on their ballot, they saw their vote had not registered, and they corrected it.

In many cases, voters initially thought they had made an error on their ballot. Only after talking to a spouse or co-worker did they realize the problem was widespread.

In 2004, the undervote rate for touch-screen ballots was .7 percent in the presidential race, according to a report released this summer by the Brennan Center for Justice. The difference between overall votes and generally lower-interest ballot initiatives was 6.7 percent.

"This is twice as high," Common Cause director Wilcox said. "And it's a top ticket race. Something clearly went wrong. To certify this election would make a mockery of democracy."

On Friday, Janelle Hu for the Democratic Party and David Kavanaugh for the Republican Party, staff members of the Committee on House Administration who plan to be there for the recount on Monday, inspected the touch-screen voting machines with Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent.

They tried out the touch-screen machines in Dent's office, seeing what the machine did in various scenarios, such as when someone undervotes or wants to correct their vote.

The candidates themselves continued to keep a low profile. Jennings made no public appearances or statement. She has not granted an extensive interview since Tuesday.

Buchanan, who also has been unavailable for comment, was said to be vacationing. He is expected in Washington, D.C., on Monday to begin congressional orientation.

<p>SARASOTA -- While the candidates themselves stayed clear of anything resembling a lectern, congressional staff members and national political operatives descended on Sarasota on Friday, digging in for a fight over contested results in the 13th Congressional District.</p><p>Staff from the U.S. House of Representatives committee that oversees election disputes inspected the site where the results in the race between Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Christine Jennings will be recounted.</p><p>That recount is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Monday and must be completed within 48 hours.</p><p>Meanwhile, national Democrat and Republican groups strengthened their presence, signaling the dispute over the 18,000 undervotes could move beyond a recount to a lawsuit.</p><p>The nonpartisan political watchdog group Common Cause of Florida called for a new election.</p><p>"Sarasota County voters deserve an explanation," said Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause's Florida office. "The machines should be impounded, audited and tested to determine if voters were unable to cast a ballot and why. A 13 percent undercount is unacceptable, and this election should not be certified. Election officials should conduct a revote in this county."</p><p>But Buchanan and Republican Party leaders say the votes have been counted, and the results should stand.</p><p>"We don't know why people undervoted," said Jeff Sadosky, spokesman for the Florida Republican Party. "We do know how the votes showed up and that Congressman Buchanan won the election."</p><p>Buchanan's legal team will be led by Hayden Dempsey, a Tallahassee-based attorney who was lead counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Florida in 2004. Staff from the Republican National Congressional Committee are expected to arrive this weekend.</p><p>Jennings' support includes a political team from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.</p><p>"We're here for a reason," said Adrienne Elrod, spokeswoman for the DCCC. "We're making sure every single person who intended to vote for Christine Jennings has their vote counted."</p><p>Buchanan defeated Jennings by 373 votes, according to the latest unofficial election results from the Florida Division of Elections. The margin increased by five votes after Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties all made revisions to their vote totals from Tuesday.</p><p>The 13th District includes all of Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties, and part of Charlotte.</p><p>At issue remains the undervote in Sarasota County, the most populous of the district's five-county area. The undervote represents the difference between total voters in Tuesday's election and votes counted in the congressional race.</p><p>Democrats say problems with the electronic touch-screen ballot confused voters and could have negated thousands of votes.</p><p>More than 300 voters have so far contacted the Herald-Tribune by telephone or e-mail about their experience at the polls on Tuesday. About 150 voters have been interviewed by a team of reporters.</p><p>The majority of those contacted say they clearly remember voting for Christine Jennings. But once they reached the final review page on their ballot, they saw their vote had not registered, and they corrected it.</p><p>In many cases, voters initially thought they had made an error on their ballot. Only after talking to a spouse or co-worker did they realize the problem was widespread.</p><p>Most experts say the 13 percent undervote rate is statistically improbable.</p><p>In 2004, the undervote rate for touch-screen ballots was .7 percent in the presidential race, according to a report released this summer by the Brennan Center for Justice. The difference between overall votes and generally lower-interest ballot initiatives was 6.7 percent.</p><p>"This is twice as high," Common Cause director Wilcox said. "And it's a top ticket race. Something clearly went wrong. To certify this election would make a mockery of democracy."</p><p>On Friday, Janelle Hu for the Democratic Party and David Kavanaugh for the Republican Party, staff members of the Committee on House Administration who plan to be there for the recount on Monday, inspected the touch-screen voting machines with Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent.</p><p>They tried out the touch-screen machines in Dent's office, seeing what the machine did in various scenarios, such as when someone undervotes or wants to correct their vote.</p><p>The candidates themselves continued to keep a low profile. Jennings made no public appearances or statement. She has not granted an extensive interview since Tuesday.</p><p>Buchanan, who also has been unavailable for comment, was said to be vacationing. He is expected in Washington, D.C., on Monday to begin congressional orientation.</p><p>_____</p><p>Staff writers Todd Ruger, Paul Quinlan, Heather Allen, Frank Gluck and Mike Saewitz contributed to this report.</p>